


A Visitor in Luna

by allyavenue



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 16:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1863774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allyavenue/pseuds/allyavenue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The door to River's office swings open and suddenly the woman he had loved and missed so much is standing before him.  It is almost overwhelming.  He must look like a deer in headlights because the next thing he knows, River is arching one eyebrow and putting a hand on her hip, obviously expecting some kind of explanation.</p><p> </p><p>It's obvious that she has no idea who he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Visitor in Luna

**Author's Note:**

> The title for this is based off of "A Visitor in Marl" by Emily Dickinson. I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but I have always been very curious as to whether the Doctor ever visited River when she was a professor. I decided to try writing the Twelfth Doctor as well, please let me know what you think!

_Who visits in the Night-_

_And just before the Sun-_

_Concludes his glistening interview-_

_Caresses-and is gone-_

_Emily Dickinson, A Visitor in Marl_

 

One morning on the TARDIS, Clara Oswald yawns while entering the console room, her much older friend at the controls.  The Doctor turns and smiles at her, giving her the feeling that he has already formed a plan for their day.  The Doctor, upon his companion entering the room, walks over to her, his black coat billowing behind him.

"You're a teacher?"  He asks with a glint of excitement in his eye.

Clara nods slowly and crossed her arms over her chest.  "Last time I checked, yeah.  Speaking of which, I sort of need to get back to wo-"

"Then I have got a treat for you."  The Doctor chuckles the rest of Clara's sentence away and lands the ship, leaving the brakes on as usual. "Prepare yourself for the prestigious honor of Luna University.  Founded on the moon circling Earth in 4789 and holding the record for the second largest academic library in the known universe."  He shudders at the thought of the first library and pushes the memory away roughly with a grunt.

"Alright...it sounds cool I guess.  What's the occasion?"  Clara yawns again and joins him at the console.

"Occasion?  Does there need to be an occasion?"  The Doctor asks distractedly while bending down to look in the mirror.  He runs his fingers through his hair-which is admittedly a bit shorter and grayer in this go round-and tries his best to make it look sophisticated.  Behind him, Clara smirks and lets out a soft ' _oh_ '.  He turns to her sharply.  "What do you mean?  I haven't said anything."

Clara continues smirking haughtily and sets her hands on his shoulders.  "You don't need to.  I'm clever, Doctor.  I can connect the dots."  She crosses her arms again and steps back, satisfied at the red that now colors the timelord's cheeks. "Going to visit the missus?"

The Doctor turns around and mocks surprise, hoping that it will pass for the real thing.  "Why would you ever think that?!"  He returns to his work at the mirror, determined to make a particular sprig stay in place.  Eventually, he licks his hands and runs it over his head like his eleventh self used to, finding the result to be unsatisfactory.

Clara raises an eyebrow.  "You want to go to a university, your wife-albeit your dead wife-is a professor, and you're preening."  The Doctor turns to her, properly offended.

"Excuse me?  I do not preen."  He stands up straight, towering over her, and crosses his arms so that they both look equally stubborn.  Suddenly, Clara starts laughing under her breath.

"What is it now?"  The Doctor grumbles.

"Oh Doctor, some things never change.  Clothing taste, yeah, but you're still completely besotted through and through."  She smiles fondly and pats the stubborn hair on his head down in one swift movement.  Unable to maintain his outward appearance of toughness now that Clara has broken, the Doctor smiles.  "I suppose I may be, but can you blame me?  There's always the chance the she won't have met this face before, and finally I'll be the one to surprise her."  He looks prematurely smug, Clara notes.

"And what happens if she's already seen this face?"  Clara asks.

The Doctor looks at her with bright eyes despite his old age and says shortly, "She won't have."

Fifteen minutes later, the Doctor and Clara are walking out of the TARDIS and down the pristine halls of Luna University.  The marble floors are shining in Earthlight, and several memories of his younger self following a younger River down the halls like a puppy flow through his mind.  He smiles softly and leads Clara to the office he knows so well. It is an archaeology office, and admittedly he would never expect to end up there in any of his lives.   However, he had developed a certain fondness for archaeology...or archaeologists.  He still has quite the aversion to the concept of archaeology, but a certain someone has shown him the finer aspects.  Aspects that have nothing to do with going on adventures with his wife.  Nothing at all.

When they arrive at the door to River's office, the Doctor feels something stir in him that was certainly not what he had been expecting.  Not excitement, he always felt a rush of it at the mere thought of her.  This feeling is something he has not felt in a long time concerning River, but he feels it nonetheless.  Anxiety.  His last face had felt that right at the beginning, but as he got to know River he fortunately mellowed out.  Was it possible that the cycle was repeating?  No, he reasons.  He knows River, he loves her.  They're last meeting at Trenzalore must have shaken him more than he likes to admit.

The door to River's office swings open and suddenly the woman he had loved and missed so much is standing before him.  It is almost overwhelming.  He must look like a deer in headlights because the next thing he knows, River is arching one eyebrow and putting a hand on her hip, obviously expecting some kind of explanation.

It's obvious that she has no idea who he is.

"Hello," He says shakily, glancing around as if the next words are hiding next to the umbrella stand on the floor.  But no, the only thing the Doctor sees is Clara's expectant gaze.  "I'm uh..."

"Whenever you're ready, sweetie."  River says almost mockingly.  The endearment stirs something within him and he thinks he might go mad.

"I'm here on behalf of the Council for Workplace Cleanliness, Luna's Health and Safety Department."  He squeaks while holding out his psychic paper.  "Intergalactic OSHA, if you know what I mean." He hears Clara inhale sharply next to him and he cringes inwardly.  If River suspects anything, she certainly doesn't let on.  That's odd, considering that she knows his psychic paper better than he does.

"Of course.  I've been expecting you for ages.  All the other offices have already had their inspections and I was told mine was last on the list."  Instead of accusing him, River nods in understanding.  "Please, come in."

The Doctor tugs at his collar and follows, ignoring Clara's quizzical looks.  "This is my er-partner, Miss Oswald.  I'm..."  He looks down, in shame of his inability to fabricate a lie.  "John Smith."

Again, River does not notice.  She leads them through her office and past a large wooden table.  Bookshelves line the walls and Earth can be seen through a skylight.  "This is my office.  I was given it by my mentor when he retired a few years ago."  She continues talking about her job, her work hours, and repeatedly asking whether they have any questions because they are being awfully quiet.  The Doctor shrugs and smiles, probably giving his entire facade away right then and there.

River just continues talking.  The Doctor just continues pretending to listen while reacquainting himself with his wife's features.  He had forgotten some tiny details.  The way an adorable wrinkle forms at a certain part of her face when she's confused or worried, the way a tiny corner of her mouth turns up when she's hiding that she's amused.  He had promised himself that her map her face out completely in his mind before Darillium, but he had failed to really capture it.

After a while of talking without receiving any response, River must grow tired because she says, "Ms. Oswald, if you'd like to take a look at the gravity filters in the next room, I'd be grateful."  Clara nods and exits the room, trying to wrap her mind around the concept of a filter for gravity.

It is just The Doctor and River Song, one wondering whether the other knows and one wondering whether the other knows they know.  It is not the most confusing situation they have her been in, but it is a tough one.  The Doctor stands at the other side of the room, leaning on the wall and chewing on his thumbnail.  It's a habit he has found quite tedious with this body.  River is on the other side of the room, her eyes wide and her face curious.  He feels slightly annoyed, whether it's at himself or her he cannot tell.  Does she really not know who he is?  Why had he not just told her?  "If you have any last comments, I'll take them down.  We should have everything we need."  He says gloomily.

River steps forward, making him stand up a little straighter.  "I do have a question, if you don't mind."

"Ask away, I've got nothing else to do but listen."  He replies gruffly.

"Why is it that my husband neglects to mention that he has regenerated to his own wife?"

The Doctor's head snaps up, his hearts and soul soaring.  "Oh you know, sometimes people can be quite stupid.  Stupid and nervous and irrational."  He smiles crookedly. "Hello honey, I'm home."

River steps closer still, her smirk contagious.  "And what sort of time do you call this?"  She kisses him softly and he feels as though he may just combust right there in her office.  Obviously, River doesn't sense how long he has gone without her.

He chuckles and lets his hands fall to her waist, the familiar feeling of her curves under his hands strangely calming.  His eyebrows furrow.  "How long did you know it was me? You didn't say anything."  He doesn't dwell of how hypocritical his statement is, considering he ignored her data ghost for years.

"I wanted you to tell me when you were ready, I couldn't let on that I knew, that would be spoilers."  River smiles and sighs a little.  "Oh well, that cat is out of bag I suppose.  I couldn't let you leave without even saying hello."  She smiles genuinely.  "It's good to see you, sweetie."

Shivers travel down the Doctor's spine and he smiles gently.  "You too.  Tell me, how long has it been?  Since you've seen me last?"

River thinks, probably remembering a diary entry.  "About a month.  What about you?  Something else seems different.  Is everything alright?"

The Doctor looks River right in the eye, an accomplishment only few in the universe can brag of.  "Spoilers."

River raises an eyebrow, trying to read the expression on his face,  she knows better than to ask for peeks into her future, and he knows himself well enough to admit that he couldn't tell her the truth if he tried.  She simply nods.

"So, I suppose I'll find out for real sooner or later, but how do you like this face?"  He twirls around, the red inner lining of his coat making an appearance.  River watches him in mock concentration before nodded. "Yes, I think you'll do quite nicely."  She winks.  "As if I don't already know."

Like a prisoner finally seeing sunlight, The Doctor bends down slightly and kisses River.  He moves one of her hands up to cup her a cheek and she responds eagerly.  Oh, he had been aching to do this for such a long time, and he never wants the moment to end.  River smells like cinnamon and time, somehow different from the ghost he had kissed in the TARDIS.  A rather insane part of his suggests that he use his respiratory bypass system so that he can kiss her for hours.  River doesn't seem to want to stop either, one hand on his cheek and the other squeezing his shoulder.  The moment feels too short, he fears that he'll never get enough moments with River like this one again.

Sadly, they are interrupted by an awkward cough coming from the doorway.  The Doctor and River break apart reluctantly, still holding onto each other.  The Doctor looks at Clara sheepishly.

"Well then," Clara says after a long silence.  "You two must really be passionate about health and safety."

River laughs.  "Hello Clara."  She walks over and the Doctor follows on her heels.

Clara frowns.  "How did you know my name?  I haven't said it yet.  You sai-"

River interrupts with a finger to Clara's bemused lips.  "Spoilers."  She glances at the watch in her wrist and cursess under her breath.  "You've made me late.  I have a meeting, but you're welcome to wait here for me until I get back."  She winks at the Doctor, knowing that there would be absolutely no waiting on his part.

"Nah,  we can't stay.  Clara has to get back to work."  He smiles wryly at his companion, and the three of them walk out of River's office together.

"You know," River says.  "I forgot how much of an improvement you are to Baby Face."

"Oi,  be nice to him."  He says.  "He loves you, he's just a tad rubbish at letting you know."

River laughs.  "I know.  I'm just teasing, my love.  I'm sure I'll see both you and him in the future."

The Doctor smirks.  "Spoilers."

"Gosh, I'm really starting to hate that word."  Clara mutters.

  
Soon, the Doctor and Clara are off into the vortex and River is sitting in a meeting.  Both are filled with hope at the promise of meeting another.  Though their meeting was short and relatively uneventful, it did manage to evoke the one thing the Doctor needed:  hope.  Hope for the days of seeing his wife again.  He thought he was being greedy by coming here after River had gone from his perspective, but he had started another chapter in their love without knowing it.  Nothing could make him happier.

_But whom his fingers touched-_

_And where his feet have run-_

_And whatsoever Mouth be kissed-_

_Is as it had not been-_


End file.
